Guitar



APH] 15 1969 w. E. osu-:TREE 3,438,297

' GUITAR l Filed .July 17, 1967 5b /IZ 57 Figo 4s INVENTOR WILL/s E. OeLsrnEE United States Patent O 3,438,297 GUITAR Willie E. Ogletree, Rte. 1, Clay, Ky. 42404 Filed July 17, 1967, Ser. No. 653,894 Int. Cl. Gd 1/08 U.S. Cl. 84-267 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A guitar in which the sound hole has a shape which is V-shaped in part and which is part-circular in part. The neck of the guitar is reinforced by a metal rod glued in a groove in the neck between the neck and a false ingerboard positioned beneath the real fingerboard. An` adjustable bridge spaces the strings from the sound hole approximately 'Ms of an inch.

Background of the invention Field of the invention-This invention relates to a stringed instrument.

Description ofthe prior art-It is desirable in a stringed instrument such as a guitar that the tone `be as good and as clear as possible and also that the tone carry clearly as great a distance as possible. Various prior art guitars and :stringed instruments such as those shown in the United States patents to Thompson 2,083,751, Moertel 2,167,486, Maccaferri 2,795,988, Hoyer 2,905,042, Boyd 3,142,221 and Connors 3,269,247 do not always achieve these desirable characteristics. Therefore, there exists a need for a guitar which is relatively inexpensive yet which has a good tone that carries to a substantial distance and is clear to that distance. It is also desirable that the tone be clear and far'carrying throughout as much of the range of the guitar as possible.

Summary of the invention One embodiment of the invention comprises a stringed instrument comprising a sound 'box having a sound hole therein; a fretted neck secured to said sound box; strings secured at one end to said neck; a tail piece securing the other end of said strings to said sound box; a bridge between said strings and said sound box and positioned between said tail piece and said sound hole; said tail piece, bridge and neck and sound hole being arranged on an axis; said sound hole having three edges two of which are straight and equal in length; said two edges delining a V-shape pointing toward said neck with the apex of said V-shape on said axis; the third edge of said sound hole being concave and part-circular in configuration and arranged between said V-shape and said bridge; said part circular configuration having its center on said axis.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved stringed instrument.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stringed instrument which is inexpensive yet which has a good tone that carries to a substantial distance.

Related objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds.

Brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a plan view of a guitar embodying the present invention with portions 'broken away to show internal construction.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation -view of the guitar of FIG. 1 with portions broken away to show internal construction.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1 showing the bridge of the guitar in more detail.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG.

3 in the direction of the arrows.

3,438,297 Patented Apr. 15, 1969 ICC Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated a guitar 10 which includes the conventional sound box 11 and the neck 12 attached to the sound box. The neck 12 has a plurality of frets 15 thereon against which the strings 16 are pressed to cause the guitar to produce particular tones. The strings 16 are secured at one end to the distal end portion 17 of the neck and can be adjusted as to their tightness by tuning pegs 20. The other ends of the strings 16 are secured to the sound box 11 by means of a tail piece 21. The guitar also has a iingerguard 19 which is mounted on the sound box and is spaced from the surface of the sound box an appropriate amount to correspond with the spacing of the strings 16.

A bridge 22 is arranged between the tail piece 21 and the neck 12 and also between the tail piece 21 and a sound hole 25 formed in the sound -box 11. The bridge 22 supports the strings so that they are approximately 'Mi inch from the sound box 11 at the sound hole 25. This spacing, which is greater than prior art guitars, assists in providing a tone which carries clearly to a far distance. The tail piece 21, the bridge 22, the sound hole 25 and the neck 12 are arranged on an axis 24. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the sound hole 25 is basically circular in shape with the center of the circular shape on the axis of the above parts. A portion of the sound hole 25 is filled in by the members 26 which cause the sound hole to have a configuration including three edges 27, 28 and 29. Two of the edges 28 and 29 define a V- shape which points towards the neck 12, with the apex of the V-shape on the axis 24. The third edge of the sound hole is concave and part-circular in configuration and is arranged between the V shape and the bridge 22 with its center on the axis 24.

As mentioned, the bridge 22 is adjusted so that the strings 16 are spaced approximately 7A; inch from the sound box 11 at the sound hole 25. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the bridge 22 includes a first bridge member 30 which is ixed to the sound |box 11 by screws 31. Mounted within the iirst bridge member 30 are screws 35 having their distal ends 36 projecting outwardly away from the sound box 11. Threadedly mounted upon the screws 35 are externally knurled nuts 37 upon which rests a second bridge member 40. The second 'bridge member 40 has a pair of bores 41 therein within which are received the distal ends of the screws 35. The strings 16 rest within suitable grooves 45 in the upper surface of the second bridge member 40.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the neck 12 includes a real nger lboard 5=0 upon which the frets 15 are mounted and a false iinger board 51 received between the real finger board 50 and the neck itself 52. In the neck S2 there is a groove 55 within which there is received a metal rod 56. Groove 55 opens at the surface of the neck which is contiguous with the false nger board 51. The groove 55 extends from the sound box 11 to a point 57 which is spaced from the point 60 approximately 4 inches. Of course, the point 60 is the point or area at which the neck bends in order to provide a mounting for the tuning .pegs 20. The groove 55 is -lled with glue which effectively secures the metal rod 56 in position in the groove and prevents excessive bending of the neck 12. Preferably the rod has a 1%" diameter which prevents excessive bending of the neck no matter how tight the strings.

It has been found that the structural modifications and details explained above provide an improved stringed instrument. The particular shape of the sound hole has been found to particularly improve the tone while the Ma" spacing of the strings from the sound box has been found to particularly help in insuring that the tone carries clearly for a substantial distance. It has also been found that the present guitar as described above and in the claims has good tone yall the way up the scale and that the tone lasts for a long period of time.

I claim:

1. A stringed instrument comprising a sound box having a sound hole therein; a fretted neck secured to said sound box; strings secured at one end to said neck; a tail piece securing the other end of said strings to said sound box; a bridge between said strings and said sound box and positioned between said i tail piece and said sound hole; said tail piece; bridge and neck and sound hole being arranged on an axis; said sound hole having three edges two of `which are straight and equal in length; said two edges defining a V-shape pointing toward said neck with the apex of said V-shape on said axis; the third edge of said sound hole being concave and part-circular in configuration and arranged between said V-shape and said bridge; said part-circular configuration having its center on said axis.

2. The stringed instrument of claim 1 wherein said strings are spaced at said sound hole approximately 7A; of an inch from said sound box between said bridge and said neck.

3. The stringed instrument of claim 1 wherein said neck has a groove therein extending from the sound box toward the distal end of the neck and terminating short of the distal end of the neck, a stitfening rod in said groove, glue securing said rod in said groove and securing said neck to said sound box.

4. The stringed instrument of` claim 1 additionally comprising a real fingerboard, said frets being carried on said real lfingerboard, and a false fingerboard glued between said real fingerboard and said neck.

5. The stringed instrument of claim 1 wherein said bridge comprises a first bridge member secured to said sound box, screws mounted `in said first bridge member and having threaded distal ends projecting away from said sound box, a second bridge member having holes therein receiving said threaded distal ends whereby said second bridge member is slidably mounted on said screws, and nuts threadedly received on said threaded distal ends and holding said second bridge member away from said sound box, said nuts being threadedly adjustable 4o on said threaded distal ends to adjust the position of said bridge.

6. rlhe stringed instrument of claim 1 additionally comprising two sound hole insert members, said sound box having a circular sound hole filled in with said two sound hole insert members which are glued to said sound box in said sound hole, said sound hole insert members being outwardly part-circular at their glued connection to said sound box and inwardly chordal.

7. The stringed instrument of claim 2 wherein said neck has a groove therein extending from the sound box towar-d the distal end of the neck and terminating short of the distal end of the neck, a stiifening rod in said groove, glue securing said rod in said groove and securing said neck to said sound box.

8. The stringed instrument of claim 7 additionally comprising a real fingerboard, said frets being carried on said real fingerboard, and a false fingerboard glued between said real fingerboard and said neck and covering said groove and rod.

9. The stringed instrument of claim 8 wherein said Ibridge comprises a first bridge member secured to said sound box, screws mounted in said first bridge member and having threaded distal ends projecting away from said sound box, a second member having holes therein receiving said threaded distal ends whereby said second bridge member is slidably mounted on said Screws, and nuts threadedly received on said threaded distal ends and holding said second bridge member away from said sound box, said nuts being threadedly adjustable on said threaded distal ends to adjust the position of said bridge.

10. The stringed instrument of claim 9 wherein said strings are spaced at said sound hole approximately Ms of an inch from said sound box between said bridge and said neck.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,083,751 6/ 1937 Thompson 84-267 2,148,5 89 2/ 1939 Stuthopoulo 84-293 2,167,486 7/ 1939 Moertel 84-267 2,270,612 1/ 1942 Williams 84-267 2,795,988 6/ 1957 Maccaferri 84-267 2,816,619 12/1957 Karlson 181--31 2,905,042 10/ 1959 Hoyer 84-307 3,142,221 7/1964 Boyd 84--313 3,269,247 8/ 1966 Connors 84-267 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

G. M. POLUMBUS, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. XJR. 84-291, 293, 307 

